Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,785 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,201 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.71% of Murphy USA worth $70,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 40.4% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 580 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MUSA opened at $541.34 on Wednesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $350.55 and a one year high of $561.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $503.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $492.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $10.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 0.78.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.